30 March

Running a superannuation system in parallel with a pension system is exactly the same as running a private health insurance system in parallel with a universal healthcare system (Medicare). A staggering waste of money, and hopelessly inefficient. We need to get rid of super, bolster the aged pension with the savings and reduce the age of eligibility back to 60, or even 55. And build tens of thousands of new public houses, outside the market. Super is really just a way to make older people eye-wateringly rich in retirement, at the expense of other taxpayers. Look at the graph. Right now Australia has enough money in superannuation to pay for the *entire* aged pension for more than half a century. And most of that money is going to people who are already wealthy. Taxpayers foot much of the bill through astronomical tax concessions that already cost more than the entire aged pension every year.